NAIROBI, Kenya – A U.S. Navy destroyer was shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard when a pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade, followed by bursts of gunfire. U.S. special forces scrambled onto the occupied vessel only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.
Killing hostages "has now become part of our rules," said a pirate who identified himself as Muse Abdi. He referred as a turning point to last week's sentencing of a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the U.S. cargo vessel the Maersk Alabama — just two days before the hijacking.
"From now on, anyone who tries to rescue the hostages in our hands will only collect dead bodies," Abdi said. "It will never, ever happen that hostages are rescued and we are hauled to prison.
A channel of negotiations had been opened, and on Monday two pirates boarded the USS Sterett, a guided-missile destroyer some 600 yards (meters) from the seized yacht, and they stayed overnight, said Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
By the next morning, though, things quickly turned deadly, with all signs pointing to a dispute among the pirates.
At 8 a.m. local time, Fox said, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired from the Quest at the Sterett and missed, followed almost immediately by the sound of small arms fire coming from the yacht.
Several pirates then appeared on the yacht deck with their hands up. U.S. naval forces rushed aboard the vessel and found all four Americans had been shot; two pirates also lay dead from gun shot wounds.
Fifteen pirates were taken into custody — 13 aboard the yacht as well as the two who had been negotiating aboard the Sterett, Fox said. In addition, two pirates were killed in the operation, including one who was knifed by a member of the U.S. force, Fox said.
Four Americans dead from an act of piracy on the high seas and 15 pirates were taken into custody? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? They were taken into custody?
Yeah, they were taken into custody where they will be tried and sentenced to a prison term in a facility where they'll eat better than they ever have in their entire lives, be able to worship their muslim diety and then probably end up paroled here in the United States where you and I will continue to support them.
Why in the fuck weren't they executed on the fucking spot and a video released on the web?
We should take a lesson from the Soviets in that regard.
I said the same thing to my wife this AM. The Captain of the Sterret should have thrown every fuckin one of them overboard and let every sailor on board empty a clip from the ships AR-15's into them. There would have been a bunch of sharks around shortly to clean up the greasy mess.
ReplyDeleteI was a Navy airedale stuck on a tincan with the Dash program and spent a year in and around that shithole of the world. It used to be called French Somliland back then and was still a shithole!
In Soviet Russia we out pirate the pirates!
ReplyDeleteAll seagoing vessels should be well armed and ready to shoot to kill. No pirate prisoners.
Just watched "The Life Aquatic". Bill Murray repelled a whole horde of pirates with a pistol and a pissed off attitude.
The U.S. gov't needs to grow a pair.
You know who issued the ROE.
ReplyDeleteDidn't want to hurt a brutha.
I agree with both of you, sharks need to eat too and sailors need the target practice !!
ReplyDeleteMaybe if we ever elect a real President and Congress, then changes can and will be made to "take care of business"... until then it's "maybe they can be rehabilitated and turned into good Somali/Americans... I really get fucking sick and tired of hearing ********/Americans... if you were born here you're an American of "whatever" decent... fuck, now I'm pissed!
ReplyDeleteA country like an orginization, is only as strong as it's leadership. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteThese pirates have bases on land where they dock their ships. Destroy them.
ReplyDeleteThe pirates also have "Mother ships which provision the skiffs they use to attack shipping.
Sink them.
Let the skiffs with 70 mile range go back to shore which is 400 miles away.
Do not put ground troops on somalian soil to rebuilt the destroyed shipping ports.
Paul in Texas